Colorado Makers Go to Washington

LulzBot and the Colorado maker community was represented by:

 

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Colorado makers join 150 other makerspace organizers in Washington, DC

We were proud to join over 150 other makerspace organizers, including 6 from Colorado, at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Makerspace Organizers meeting last week in Washington, D.C. The event was held in the Eisenhower Executive Offices Building, right off the West Wing of the White House.

 

These conversations continue online as attendees and other organizers work together to build off of the hard work of the original hackerspace pioneers, Free Software, and Open Source Hardware.

 Nation of Makers

The day long event started with opening remarks by Tom Kalil, the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. A series of engaging lightning talks kicked off the event by representatives from HeatSync Labs, NYC Resistor, and the Ocean State Maker Mill hackerspaces. Megan Smith, the Chief Technology Officer for the US, lead the closing remarks.

 

Video CC-BY 3.0

The last half of the day was a flurry of activity as attendees ran around the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for breakout sessions ranging from Citizen Science and Open Innovation, tips for connecting with the National Laboratories, to informational sessions on obtaining National Science Foundation funding. Two common elements among all the discussions was the prevalent use of Free Software and collaboration with other makerspaces throughout the nation.

We value what makerspaces are doing to help push forward innovation, local micro-manufacturing, and education in our schools and libraries by serving as local resources of creativity and empowerment within the community. Every year we give back with the Annual Hackspace Giveaway. Want to be notified about your next opportunity to win a LulzBot 3D printer for your makerspace? Sign up here!